Back to EveryPatent.com
United States Patent |
6,257,434
|
Lizzio
|
July 10, 2001
|
Container for transporting heated food, particularly pizza and the like
Abstract
Container for transporting heated food, particularly pizza and the like,
formed by a first and a second half-shell of moulded plastic material each
having a bottom wall and a lateral wall with mutually substantially sealed
coupling means to define, in the coupled condition, a cavity for
containing food and communicating to the outside through vent openings.
Inventors:
|
Lizzio; Filippo (Volpiano, IT)
|
Assignee:
|
Agape Trade AG (Geneva, CH)
|
Appl. No.:
|
419882 |
Filed:
|
October 18, 1999 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
Current U.S. Class: |
220/4.23; 99/DIG.15; 206/204; 206/551; 220/366.1; 426/119; 426/128 |
Intern'l Class: |
B65D 085/62 |
Field of Search: |
206/551,204
426/119,128
220/4.23,366.1
99/DIG. 15
|
References Cited
U.S. Patent Documents
4373636 | Feb., 1983 | Hoffman | 206/551.
|
4848543 | Jul., 1989 | Doboze | 206/551.
|
5076434 | Dec., 1991 | Hoffman, Jr. | 206/551.
|
5423477 | Jun., 1995 | Valdman et al. | 206/551.
|
5543606 | Aug., 1996 | Gics | 219/730.
|
5605231 | Feb., 1997 | Borsboom et al. | 206/551.
|
5662237 | Sep., 1997 | Cain.
| |
Foreign Patent Documents |
2 116 203A | Jul., 1972 | FR.
| |
WO 94 12397A | Jun., 1994 | WO.
| |
WO 95 29619A | Nov., 1995 | WO.
| |
Primary Examiner: Moy; Joseph M.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Sughrue, Mion, Zinn, Macpeak & Seas, PLLC
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A container for transporting heated food, formed by an upper and a lower
half-shell made of moulded plastic material, each of said upper and said
lower half-shell having a bottom wall and a lateral wall, said upper and
said lower half-shell being provided with substantially sealing mutual
couplers in correspondence of said lateral walls and defining, in the
mutually coupled condition, a cavity for containing said food in a
spaced-apart condition relative to the bottom walls of said upper and said
lower half-shell, and wherein said bottom wall of said upper half-shell is
provided with vent openings, wherein said bottom walls of said upper and
said lower half-shell are formed with respective radially extending spacer
projections, wherein adjacent spacer projections form channels, and
wherein said channels in said bottom wall of said lower half-shell contain
radially extending recesses below the plane of the lower half-shell,
whereby said channels in said lower half-shell define chimneys for
collecting and directing steam radially outwardly and upwardly past the
food, the channels in said upper half-shell direct the steam to the vent
openings and the recesses in the lower half-shell collect condensed steam.
2. Container according to claim 1, wherein said channels define, on an
outer face of said bottom wall of said lower half-shell, projections
designed to engage corresponding channels defined, on an outer face of
said bottom wall of said upper half-shell, by respective inner projections
while the container is placed in a superimposed condition onto another
same container.
3. Container according to claim 1, wherein said vent openings include a
crown of cuts.
4. Container according to claim 3, wherein said cuts are formed as partial
die-cuts.
5. Container according to claim 1, wherein said couplers are mutually
press-engageable.
6. Container according to claim 1, wherein said upper and said lower
half-shell are made as one single piece and are pivotally connected to
each other along a corresponding hinge edge thereof.
7. Container according to claim 1, further comprising an intermediate
septum releasably interposed between said upper and said lower half-shell
so as to define, in the closed condition thereof, a double cavity.
8. Container according to claim 7, wherein said intermediate septum is also
formed with spacer projections, with recesses acting in use as chimneys
for discharging smoke and steam and also as collecting chambers of any
condensed steam, and with vent openings.
9. Container according to claim 1, wherein said upper and said lower
half-shell are constituted by thin flexible heat-formed sheets.
10. Container according claim 1, wherein said upper and said lower
half-shell have a cellular structure.
11. Container according to claim 1, further provided with a valve for
opening and closing at least one of said vent openings.
12. Container according to claim 8, further provided with a valve for
opening and closing at least one of said vent openings.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is related to containers for transporting heated
food, particularly pizzas, hamburgers and more generally fast-food
products.
These food products, purchased in a warm condition at the production site
and then transferred to the place where they shall then be taken, are
subjected not only to progressive cooling but also to contamination by the
steam generated by themselves and then condensed following cooling.
The transporting containers presently used, traditionally consisting of
simple cardboard boxes, are all affected by the above-referenced drawback,
whereby the organoleptic characteristics of the food products housed
therein are more or less lowered, often without any chance to be restored
not even by subjecting the foodstuffs to further heating.
Moreover these known containers formed by cardboard boxes are affected by
encumbrance problems, whereby they are normally provided in a flattened
transport and storage condition: at the time of use these containers are
then brought to an erected condition for receiving the food products
thereinto. This operation may be uncomfortable and involve loss of time.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to overcome the above
inconveniences, and more particularly to provide a container for
transporting heated food having a simple and economical construction,
adapted to efficiently ensure preserving not only the temperature but even
the fragrance of the warm food product contained therein, and moreover
having a reduced encumbrance even in a transporting and stocking
ready-to-use condition.
According to the invention this object is achieved primarily due to the
features set forth in claim 1.
Additional secondary features of the invention are defined in subclaims
2-15.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will now be disclosed in detail with reference to the
accompanying drawings, purely provided by way of non limiting example, in
which:
FIG. 1 is a top plan view diagrammatically showing a preferred embodiment
of the container according to the invention in a closed condition of use,
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the container of FIG. 1 shown in a
partially open condition,
FIG. 3 shows in a larger scale the detail indicated by arrow III in FIG. 1,
FIG. 4 is a sectioned view along line IV--IV of FIG. 3,
FIG. 5 is a lateral elevational view showing the container of FIG. 1 in a
stacked condition with identical containers,
FIG. 6 is an elevational view showing an alternative embodiment of the
container according to the invention,
FIG. 7 is a view same as FIG. 6 but sectioned, with the container in a
partially open condition,
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a detail of FIG. 7,
FIG. 9 is a partial vertically sectioned and enlarged view of the container
of FIG. 6,
FIG. 10 is a sectioned and enlarged view along line X--X of FIG. 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIGS. 1 through 5 show a first embodiment of the invention, which is to be
considered as the preferred embodiment, with specific reference to a
container for transporting a pizza. In the shown example the container
shape and size are thus suitable to house the pizza therein: obviously,
design and size can be tailored to different foodstuffs, such as
hamburgers, fast-food products and warm take-away food in general.
According to the preferred embodiment of FIGS. 1 through 5, the container
of the invention is formed by one single piece P of thin sheet-like
moulded plastic material, defining a lower half-shell 1 and an upper
half-shell 2 both having a substantially circular shape with a respective
bottom wall 3, 4 and a respective lateral wall 5, 6.
The bottom wall 3 of the lower half-shell 1 is formed, in correspondence of
the inner face thereof, with a radial array of straight ribs 7 projecting
upwardly and starting from a central annular rib 8 having a circular
design. Moreover further pairs of shorter ribs 9, between which radial
recesses 10 formed as channels are provided, are provided between each
pair of adjacent ribs 7.
The radial recesses 10, whose function shall be clarified herebelow, are
extending also over the inner surface of the lateral wall 5 of the lower
half-shell 1.
Respective recesses are corresponding, on the outer face of the bottom wall
3, to the ribs 7, 8 and 9, while on the same outer face respective ribs
are corresponding to the recesses 10.
Likewise the bottom wall 4 of the upper half-shell 2 is formed, in
correspondence of its inner face, with a radial array of straight ribs 11
starting from an annular central rib 12 also having a circular design. A
shorter central radial rib 13 is provided between each pair of ribs 11.
Moreover, vent openings 14 are arranged in selected areas comprised
between the ribs 11 e 13. These vent openings 14 are arranged according to
a crown concentric to the half-shell 2 and, as shown in detail in FIGS. 3
and 4, are each formed by a partial die-cut having a generally elliptical
shape, actually defined by two juxtaposed substantially semi-circular cuts
15 mutually joined by a central longitudinal cut 16.
The lateral walls 5, 6 of the two half-shells 1, 2 are designed to perform
a mutual substantially sealed closure connection. Thus, the lateral wall 5
of the lower half-shell 1 is formed superiorly with a series of elongated
recesses 17 below which an annular flange 18 is provided, forming a
forwardly projecting tang 19. Likewise, the lateral wall 6 of the upper
half-shell 2 is formed inferiorly with a series of elongated projection 20
having a shape complementary to that of the recesses 17, and superiorly
with an annular flange 21 forming a forwardly projecting tang similar to
the tang 19 of the lower half-shell 1.
In the rear side, the two lateral walls 5, 6 of the half-shells 1, 2 are
prolonged so as to form a straight connection book-like pivot hinge
between the two half-shells 1 and 2. Thus the half-shells 1, 2 can be
pivoted relative to each other between the closed position shown in FIG.
1, in which they define a cavity adapted to house a pizza, and a
completely open position in which they are positioned one along the other,
through the partially open position depicted in FIG. 2. In the closed
position the annular flange 21 of upper half-shell 1 rests upon the
annular flange 18 of the lower half-shell 1, with the projections 20 of
the former fitted under pressure within the recesses 17 of the latter.
Further recesses 24 and complementary projections 25 may be additionally
provided to hold the closure position, for instance formed in respective
wings 26, 27 of the lateral walls 5, 6 near to the pivot hinge 23 and
mutually engageable under pressure.
In use, the ribs 7, 8, 9 of the bottom wall 3 of the lower half-shell 1 act
as spacer element bearing the pizza housed in the cavity defined by the
half-shells 1, 2 closed onto each other. Interspaces communicating with
the recesses 10 are thus defined between the pizza and the bottom wall 3,
acting both as chambers collecting any steam generated by the pizza itself
and condensed, and as chimneys--along the respective portions formed on
the lateral wall 5--for discharging smoke and steam upwardly. Likewise the
ribs 11, 13 of the upper half-shell define, between the bottom wall
thereof and the pizza within the container, a plurality of interspaces
communicating to the outside through the vent openings 14.
By this arrangement, the hot pizza housed within the cavity of the
container is efficiently kept, at least over the time necessary for
transporting it from the production site to the place where it shall be
eaten, at a substantially constant temperature and humidity on one hand by
virtue of the thermal insulation performed by the half-shells 1, 2 closed
onto each other in a substantially hermetical fashion, and on the other
hand by virtue of the steam outlet through the previously disclosed
interspaces to the outside of the container through the vent openings 14,
in practice without appreciably affecting the fragrance of the pizza
housed within the container.
The previously disclosed arrangement of the ribs and recesses on the bottom
walls 3, 4 of the half-shells 1 and 2 enables conveniently stacking a
plurality of containers according to the invention in the closed condition
onto one another, such as shown in FIG. 5. The projections defined by the
recesses 10 on the lower face of the bottom wall 3 of the lower half-shell
1 of a container placed above fit into the recesses defined, on the upper
face of the bottom wall 4 of the upper half-shell 2 of the container
placed below, by the ribs 13. This ensures a steady positioning in the
stacked condition, preventing undesired sliding between the superimposed
containers.
To open the container 1 it is sufficient disengaging the projections 20
from the recesses 17, pulling manually the front wings 19, 22 apart so as
to mutually pivot the half-shells 1, 2 around the hinge 23.
For transportation and storage the containers according to the invention
may be more conveniently mutually superimposed and stacked, instead than
in the closed condition of FIG. 5, arranging the respective half-shells 1,
2 in the completely open position, i. e. one on the prolongation of the
other.
The variant of the invention shown in FIGS. 6 through 9 is generally
similar to the embodiment disclosed in the above, and only the differences
shall be disclosed in detail, employing the same reference numerals for
identical or similar parts.
In this variant, the half-shells 1, 2 have a greater height than in the
case of the previously disclosed embodiment, and such to enable fitting
two superimposed pizzas, instead of only one, within the cavity of the
container. An intermediate releasable septum 28 is provided for separating
the two pizzas from each other, which is shown in detail in FIG. 8 and
whose general configuration can be conveniently the same as the bottom
wall 3 of the lower half-shell 1. Thus the intermediate septum 28 has, as
shown in FIG. 8, a circular shape with a perimetral flange 29 bearing onto
the upper edge of the lateral wall 5 of the lower half-shell 1, and is
formed on its upper face with a radial array of ribs 30, 31 similar to the
ribs 7, 8, and with channel-like radial recesses 32 similar to the
recesses 10 and providing the same function with reference to the pizza
placed in use within the upper portion of the container. Moreover the
intermediate septum 28 is formed with a crown of peripheral vent openings
33 whose function is corresponding, with reference to the pizza placed in
use within the lower part of the container, to that of the openings 14.
Naturally the arrangement of these vent openings 33, to which valve means
may also be associated, can be different from that shown by way of example
in FIG. 8.
It is to be pointed out that the container according to the invention is
not necessarily disposable, and that it can be re-used even several times.
The material employed for the manufacturing of the half-shells 1, 2 can be
any plastic material conventionally used for the production of food
containers, and anyway a heat-formable plastic material. Instead of a thin
wall construction, each half-shell 1, 2 may also be provided with a
cellular structure, capable to ensure higher thermal insulating
performances.
Naturally, the details of construction and the embodiments may be widely
varied with respect to what has been disclosed and illustrated, without
thereby departing from the scope of the present invention such as defined
in the appended claims. Thus, for example, the arrangement of the ribs and
recesses of the half-shells 1, 2 as well as that of the vent openings 14
of the half-shell 2 may be different than the one disclosed with reference
to the example. In particular the number of the vent openings 14 could be
increased or reduced, and in the latter case valve means designed to
selectively open communication between the cavity of the container and the
outside environment may be associated to the vent openings. These valve
means could be manually or even automatically operable.
Top